Making money by improving the look of the average home has long been the way ahead for the do-it-yourself crowd. That was fine so long as the renovations consisted of a lick of fresh paint, tasteful new curtains and giving both the exterior and interior a " fresh look " to attract buyers.
The television industry is presently investing heavily in slickly presented " renovation " shows. These are big budget productions that have groups of people competing against one another to transform the unappealing into a highly priced selling sensation - and on these shows it looks easy.
The Block - The Renovators - and Top Design show enthusiastic amateurs knocking out walls, creating roof extensions and doing all manner of things that would usually be the domain of competent tradespeople - and it is made to look so simple that it could be done by the unskilled !
Beware ! It is so easy to bite off more than you can comfortably chew !
For a start, in New South Wales you will need an owner/builder permit if the value of the work exceeds $ 5000. Plumbing and electrical renovations must be carried out by licensed tradespeople - and it is a recipe for disaster if you start knocking out walls without knowing which are load bearing - and you end up having the roof fall in.
It is also so easy to end up with the reverse of what you hope for. So many renovation ideas are great in theory - and awful in practice. Many a renovator has found that at the end of the job the value of the home has actually sharply decreased - because what has been achieve is not to the taste of the buyers.
There certainly is money to be made in renovating unappealing homes, but first it is wise to do your homework and get useful advice from a professional before you start the work - and to make sure that the project is not beyond your skill capacity !
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